Method and system for water-fuel emulsions production

ABSTRACT

Water-fuel emulsions can be used in engines, predominantly in diesel engines, to achieve considerable fuel economy and reduce emissions of noxious exhaust components, NO x , CO2 and soot. However, the emulsion combustion technology for engines of power units has not been applied widely since the main two components are immiscible; water separates and causes corrosion in pumps, injectors, regulators and so on. In order to improve mixing, special emulsifiers are applied, but in this option emulsion does not sustain long. Proposed new emulsion making technology uses simultaneous dissolution of highly soluble gases CO2 and CH4 in immiscible components fuel and water. Tests demonstrate that water-fuel emulsion produced using the new technology retains stability when exposed to temperature and at long-term storage in the open air.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to Provisional Application No.61643,311 filed on May 6, 2012, the contents of this provisionalapplication are expressly incorporated herein by reference thereto.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention is related to the field of engine development,particularly to the engine fuel supply systems and improvement of theengine efficiency.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Water-fuel emulsions (WFE) as an alternative high efficiency oil orsynthetic fuel have been studied over the past years, especially heavypetroleum oil fuel with the high water content, up to 45% for heatingapplications. Manufacturers such as Caterpillar and MAN have researchedWFE in internal combustion engines, especially in powerfulenergy-producing plants and marine engines. VOLVO also conducted similarresearch applications of WFE in diesel engines.

The main danger in applying WFE is that water is quickly separated fromthe WFE that results in corrosion of system components, such as fuelsupply (especially pumps, injectors, valves, etc.), particularly whenthe engine is shut down.

The wide application of WFE has only been in the field of agriculturalmachinery with short life spans; when one or several fuel fillings a dayare needed. Under these circumstances of the local operation, it isprofitable to fill up the tank with the emulsion which is easily made ofcheap components: emulsifiers and stabilizers that give stable emulsionfor storing up to 5-7 days including vibration and shaking during theworking process.

The applying of additives such as emulsifiers and stabilizers is alsonot a favorable factor because the engine exhaust becomes worse and pumpand injector life times is decreased. But for non-expensive engines,e.g. for farming machines, this will effect a saving of the expensivediesel fuel.

There are research papers and published patents relating to WFEtechnology without emulsifiers and stabilizers. For example, in thepatent RU No. 2381826, 2006 “The system to prepare WFE for the internalcombustion engines” was published where it was disclosed that theproblem of WFE physical/chemical stability can be solved without anyemulsifying additives. This solution was due to the original design ofthe mixing device and the device of aqueous phase dispersion in basicfuel as well as due to multiple circulation—intensive mixing of heatedemulsion, the returned surplus of fuel emulsion from the engine afterthe injection before the re-feeding of the emulsion to the high pressurepump of the main fuel supply system. The inventors of this patent statethat the originality of diesel fuel mixing and water dispersion devicesconsists in the applying of an ultrasonic wave disperser, which providesan intensive turbulence of the emulsion recycling flow.

In a similar patent RU No. 2381 826, 2012 for the emulsifier-free(without using extra emulsifiers and/or stabilizers) WFE a jet apparatuswas used for water supply into the fuel flow, thereafter the water andfuel mixture is fed into the meter-mixer, where the hot backflow ofunused returned emulsion is fed. The suggested system is very complex:it comprises a reducing controller in the fuel supply line and in theparallel water supply line for mixing, a complex hydraulic actuatorwhich proportions/meters the water supply into the jet mixer. It isobvious that it is very complex to operate such an hydraulic actuatorand the whole system, especially at fluctuating engine loads, because itis necessary to supply emulsion having special composition and provideoptimal proportions when mixing three components in the metering unit:a) basic fuel; b) return flow of unused emulsion and c) freshly mademixture from jet pump.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,388,893 “Diesel Engine Incorporating Emulsified fuelsupply system”, 1983, discloses a complex approach of water-fuelemulsion preparation with a preset concentration of 2 components usingno emulsifying additives. The system has three recirculation contours;each contour has an independent recirculating pump that pumpscorrespondent component (fuel, water, and water-fuel emulsion) to aninjection pump through a mixing chamber. The water used to prepare thewater-fuel emulsion is obtained by condensing water from the exhaustgases and then fed to the mixing chamber. The amount of water fed to themixing chamber is controlled by a special controller using positionsensors on an accelerator pedal and speedometer. The second stage ofpreparing the water-fuel emulsion is performed immediately beforesupplying the water-fuel emulsion to the injection pump and iscontrolled by the controller.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,530,963, 2003 “Continuous Process for Making an AqueousHydrocarbon Fuel” describes a process for making an emulsion stable inlong-term storage and having aqueous droplets with a mean diameter ofless than 10 microns. The last object is achieved by using at least twoemulsifying agents.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,645,305, 2010 “High Stability Fuel Composition”discloses that to prepare an aqueous fuel emulsion with water continuousphase an additive package that includes an surfactant and at least oneadditional component provides a mean diameter of water

phase less than 10 microns. The following formulation is shown as anexample: a) diesel fuel of 67% (balance); b) highly purified water of30%; c) methanol of 2%; d) 2-EHN of 0.37%; and six more components. Thepatent discloses that such a composition allows decreasing particulateemissions of 40-55% and NO_(x)+Hydrocarbon (HC) emissions of 45%.

PCT/EP2006008496 describes a device to make an emulsion (dieselfuel+water) comprises a static mixing system, an homogenizing valvehaving an outlet port of small size and first, second and third highpressure cylinders with working pressure of 2000 bar. Diesel fuel andwater are pre-mixed in the static mixing chamber to obtain a rawemulsion and are directed to a device comprising three high-pressurecylinder chambers. The inlets of the first high-pressure cylinder andthe second high-pressure cylinder are connected to the water/diesel fuelraw emulsion mixing chamber, the outlets of the first high-pressurecylinder and the second high-pressure cylinder are connected to thehomogenizing valve, the inlet of the third high-pressure cylinder isconnected to the outlet of the homogenizing valve, and the outlet of thethird high-pressure cylinder is connected to the diesel engine. Thethree pistons of the three high-pressure cylinders are part of apressure booster which is connected to a hydraulic drive unit. Thesignificant drawbacks of this system are high energy requirements andthe necessity of the rigid kinematic connection with the crankshaft ofthe engine which results in inefficient operation at variablerevolutions of the crankshaft and engine loads.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In the present application, an advance in engine engineering, inparticular—in diesel engine technology, is made in a new direction:transfer of fuel delivery systems running at operating load to fuel-gasmixture supply to injection. Fuel solution, e.g. diesel fuel/air,fuel/natural gas or fuel/CO2 is made on-board the vehicle. To do so aspecial vessel where gas is dissolved in liquid fuel at increasedpressure should be installed, as well as a system of switching valves.Such a fuel supply system can operate on the base (standard) fuel, e.g.when the engine starts, or on fuel solutions when the engine runs atoperating load. When the fuel solution is injected at a high rate to thecombustion chamber, active release of absorbed gas takes place in eachinfinitely small volume of the injected fuel due to hydrodynamicdiscontinuity and simultaneous stepwise change of the fuel parameters.The process of gas desorption from the fuel solution exhibits typicalfeatures of chain dispersion process. This results in ultrafineseparation and distribution of the injection dose, rapid phasetransition (evaporation) and highly efficient combustion producingreduced content of all exhaust components, above all—NO_(x) and CO₂.Obtained results of for combustion of fuel-gas solutions suggest that itcan be beneficial to add deionized water, in particular—in the form of agasified solution, to the efficient combustion process. Analysis andexperiments confirmed that introduction of gasified water component tothe combustion process produced favorable effect. Subsequent experimentsrun on a Volkswagen turbo-diesel engine demonstrated that the mostadvisable method for application in vehicles is delivery of 3-componentemulsion composed of diesel fuel/deionized water/dissolved gas (gases)to injection.

It was shown that simultaneous dispersion of two immiscible liquids,water and liquid fuel, in the absorber at excess pressure ensuresformation of highly homogenous emulsion with ultrafine distribution ofwater phase particles in the base fuel. Water component inclusions thatmake up 3.1-5.5% of the total mass of the produced emulsion areparticles smaller than 1 micron. The color of emulsion fuel/water/gaseschanged as compared to the base fuel is opaque, slightly white, turbidand uniform throughout the entire volume.

In the experiments described herein, one stage of dissolution of gasesin liquid components was used and emulsion was made without the use ofemulsifiers, surfactants or other chemicals. Operating gas pressure inthe absorber was 115 psi (≈7.8 bar) and 180 psi (≈12.2 bar), thedissolved gas was represented by air, CO₂ or CH₄. Fuel solutiontemperature was 65-80° F. Deionized water content was 5.1±0.6% whendissolving CH₄ and CO₂ and 3.5±0.4% when dissolving air.

Emulsion homogeneity sustained when the gas pressure was reduced to theatmospheric pressure with the gas blanket retained (as it had been inthe process of dissolution of, e.g. CO₂ and CH₄) followed by storing theemulsion for 1 year at 120° F.; no changes in the color density whenobserving it with directed light in the entire stored volume; nosediments, visible local discontinuities or stratification wereobserved. The initial composition of the emulsion did not change afterit had been subjected to heat to 200° F. (≈95° C.) for 3 hours.

After the emulsion had been stored for one year two modifications weresubjected to tests: emulsions obtained using air and those made withCO₂. Tests were run on 1.9 L4-cylinder Volkswagen engine withturbocharger. 115 miles drive tests and DynoTests demonstrated dieselfuel economy of 12.45±2.8% while the exhaust reduced up to 17%.

Further experiments included tests aimed at exploring the possibilityfor emulsion storage in open air at the atmospheric pressure, similar toconditions for diesel fuel storage. Emulsion temperature in the courseof long-term storage (3 months) changed in the range of 95° F. (35° C.)5° F. (−15° C.). No changes in the emulsion composition resulting fromopen storage in the air were observed. No water separation took place.Subsequent tests run on an operating engine where emulsion was suppliedafter its storage in ambient conditions also confirmed the features ofhighly efficient combustion, similar to experiments run on the initialemulsion. Fuel economy was from 8.3% to 12.5%, accompanied withreduction of CO2 and Nox to 15.3%. In order to study combustion atincreased water content emulsions were made using the new technology. A2-stage process of emulsion making was tested. In this process, emulsionwas containing 4.5% of water and 2.5% of isopropyl alcohol (by mass) wasfed to the second stage; this emulsion had been obtained at the firststage at CO₂ pressure of 90 psi (≈6 bar) and temperature 80° F.

At the second stage emulsion from the absorber was delivered withoutreduction of pressure P₁, to a second absorber for dispersion. Alongwith that water with added isopropyl alcohol also was dispersed in thesecond absorber. In the course of dispersion of liquid components amixture of gases was fed to the second absorber; the mix was composed of50% of CO₂ and 50% of CH₄ at full pressure the second in absorber,P₂=400 psi (28 bar). The amount of the added water-alcohol componentsvaried from 4.5% to 18.5% while all other parameters of the process werekept unchanged. Three hours after completion of each test with increasedsupply of water-alcohol mixture, the bottom part of the absorber wasexamined for free water released in the process. It was observed thatwater separation in the second absorber emulsion took place after theintroduction of 15% water-alcohol mixture to the process. In thereference tests emulsion remained stable after addition of 13.5%water-alcohol mixture and no separated water phase emerged in 24 hours.After that the emulsion was released from excess pressure and kept forthree days in a controlled environment at atmospheric pressure withoutcontact with air. No water separation took place. In the next testemulsion was kept in an auxiliary storage tank and was in contact withair at the temperature of 72° F. (≈22° C.). This test was run for 30days and no water phase separation was observed. After the emulsionproduced at the stage 2 had been held for 30 days, Dyno Tests and DriveTest were run. The outcome of the tests indicated diesel fuel economy of18.3%±3.3% accompanied by exhaust reduction up to 25%.

The present invention comprises a method for on-board production ofwater-fuel emulsion free of emulsifier and stabilizing additives. Themethod comprises:

-   -   providing an absorber;    -   feeding a liquid fuel and other additional incombustible        evaporative liquids to absorber, providing high level spraying        of both liquid flows;    -   feeding at least one gas to the absorber providing a high level        of contact of liquid and gases; and    -   providing an electronic controller for controlling flows of        liquids and gases.        The method comprises at least one stage of emulsion preparation        with water phase content of at least 3.5% by weight through        dissolution of, at least, one gas at the partial pressure of        each component being at least 1.35 bar, where the produced        emulsion is delivered to an engine fuel supply pump while a        return flow of unused emulsion coming from the engine is cooled        and returned to the absorber; the emulsion level is maintained        by synchronous and proportional supply of each dispersed liquid        component under discrete control of feed pumps operation by a        controller that sends commands based on a level sensor signal.

The present invention further comprises a method for production ofhighly sustainable water-fuel emulsion. The method comprises an at leasttwo stage process of simultaneous or consecutive dissolving ofgas/gasses in dispersed liquid components under high pressure including:

-   -   spraying in a first stage liquid components in a first absorber        under gas pressure of P₁;    -   feeding in a second stage water-fuel emulsion from the first        absorber is fed to a second absorber where emulsion and        additional portion of water/antifreeze agent are sprayed under        gas pressure P2;    -   dispersing liquid components and antifreeze additives,        preferably, in top areas of the absorbers and collected emulsion        evacuate, at least, through one port at the bottom of the second        absorber to a storage tank for long time storage under        atmospheric pressure;    -   Compressing free gas/gases released from the emulsion in the        storage tank and returned to the second absorber for secondary        dissolution.        The ratio of water-fuel emulsion components is no less than 75%        by weight of hydrocarbon fuel, up to 18.5% by weight of        deionized/desalted water, and up to 2.5% by weight of antifreeze        agent. The method comprises return of a part of emulsion taken        from the bottom area of the first absorber, e.g.—water that is        escaped emulsion, to a first stage water tank through an        emulsion quality indicator, while the main part of the emulsion        is directed to the storage tank; this is accompanied by feeding        the gases emitted in the storage tank to the first absorber        where they are mixed with a make-up gas for repeated        dissolution.        Another embodiment of the invention comprises an absorber for        making highly sustainable emulsion which is configured to        operate at an excessive pressure of at least one gas. The        absorber has ports for intake of liquid components and a gas        mixture, as well as spraying devices in the top part of the        absorber. All component supply ports are preferably equipped        with valves to prevent backflows. The absorber has at least 2        ports in a bottom part with the top one (near-bottom) serving as        an emulsion discharge opening for feeding emulsion to a quality        control fixture and is hydraulically connected through an        indicator with a de-ionized water storage tank.

A further embodiment of the present invention comprises a system forproduction of highly sustainable water-fuel emulsion for diesel enginewithout the use of emulsifiers and other chemicals. The system comprisesan absorber hydraulically connected to a de-ionized water storage tankand a standard liquid hydrocarbon fuel storage tank. The absorber isalso connected to a high-pressure gas vessel and the absorber has inletports for introduction of the aforementioned components as well as portsfor discharge of a prepared emulsion. It is equipped with an externallevel sensor that sends commands to feed pumps.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a schematic of an emulsion making system as part of anengine for immediate use.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic of an emulsion making system for producinglong-storable water-fuel emulsion.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

One embodiment of a system that makes an emulsion intended for a dieselengine is shown on FIG. 1. FIG. 1 depicts general provisions needed tounderstand the present process, which does not rule out otherconfigurations for integration of the new system with another engine.The system shown on the FIG. 1 represents a first emulsion productionstage where no emulsifiers are added and water content is up to 5.7%.

The main components of the new system are: emulsification unit 1 withexternal level sensor 2, dispersing devices 3 and 3 a, inlet and outlet4 and 5, gas inlet 6, emulsion output ports 7 and bottoms discharge port8. All inlets 4, 5, 6 are equipped with check valves 4 a, 5 a, 6 a inorder to prevent backflows. Fuel is supplied from standard fuel tank 9.Fuel comes through the standard fuel delivery line 9 a and check valve 9b to the new system connection point pA1 and further to pump 10. Lowpressure gear pump 10 drives fuel through 3-way valve 11 and line 11 ato inlet 4 of the emulsification unit 1. Water is driven to theemulsification unit 1 from additional tank 12 by pump 12 a. Gas,preferably CO₂, comes from storage vessels 14 through solenoid valves 15or 16 and downstream pressure regulator 17 to intermediate vessel 18.From this vessel gas is fed to the second pressure control stage 19 andfurther to the gas inlet 6 of emulsification unit 1.

Prepared emulsion is discharged from port 7 located in theemulsification unit bottom zone through line 21 to stream driver 22 andfurther to Y-mixer 23 to be mixed with recycled emulsion that remainedunused in the engine and comes through recycle line 25 a. Fuel to berecycled initially comes to three-way valve 25 and then to heatexchanger 26 where it is cooled down, then released gases and vapors areseparated in gas separator 27 under increased pressure controlled byrelief valve 28; fuel flows from the discharge port of the relief valve28 through line 28 a to the Y-mixer 23. After having been mixed withfresh emulsion in Y-mixer 23 the stream flows through line 24 to thesuction of recycling pump 29 and further through 3-way valve(preferably—with an electro-pneumatic drive) 30, check valve 31,connection point pA2 and local filter 32 to the intake port of theengine (35).

If needed the emulsion can be transferred for storage to air-tight tank36 through solenoid valve 37. Pressure in tank 36 is monitored bypressure sensor 38 and when gas is accumulated in the tank thencontroller 55, upon taking readings from sensor 38, turns on compressor39, which returns the gas released in the tank through check valve 40 tointermediate vessel 18.

Water that may escape from the emulsion and accumulated at the bottom ofthe emulsification unit 1 are discharged from port 8 through solenoidvalve 42, throttle 44 and line 45 to water tank 12.

Gas released in separator 27 flows through line 46, throttle 47 andsolenoid valve 48 to line 49 and further to the engine air supply line,preferably downstream of compressor 50. Standard fuel delivery lineincludes a supply line running from the connection point A1 to mainengine pump 101 through manually controlled 3-way changeover valve 102and/or heater 103 and further through filter 104 and bypass regulator105 to the new system connection point A3. Then it flows throughthree-way valves 106 and 30, preferably of electro-pneumatic type, tothe engine intake port.

When the engine operates in the basic mode return fuel from the engineis removed through normally open ports of the three-way valve 25 andcomes to the point pA4. If the fuel supply line gets plugged then partof the fuel is removed from point A3 through booster regulator 109 andannunciator 110.

In emulsion feed mode main pump 101 supplies base fuel from tank 9 tocool down the return flow by switching valve 106. The cooling stream ofthe base fuel comes out from the exchanger via point A4 through reliefvalve 107 and flow visual inspection device 108. If it is needed toswitch from emulsion to a base fuel then a command from controller 55changes position of three-way valve 11 for a short time (<5 min) and thebase fuel comes from pump 10 through valve 11 to line 32 a and furtherto the engine intake port. The return stream of the fuel coming from theengine is recycled flowing in a closed loop, passing through exchanger26, gas separator 27 and relief valve 28; part of the fuel returned fromthe engine is diverted through 2-way valve 115 and throttle 116 to pointA4 and further to fuel tank 9. All 3-way valves are driven byelectro-pneumatic effectors 11, 25, 30, 106. After running the flashmode for 5 minutes (preferably) controller 55 removes control signalsand the fuel supply system turns to operation in the base fuel supplymode.

A unit for making long-lasting WFE based on diesel fuel is shown on FIG.2 and, essentially, is a multistage device having at least two stages; asimilar unit was shown earlier on FIG. 1 as one stage system. The firststage of the unit introduces up to 5.7% of water component with up to2.5% of antifreeze agent (isopropyl alcohol) to WFE. This first stageincludes emulsification unit 1 with external level sensors 2 andcorresponding inlets for fuel, water and gas, as well as emulsion andbottoms discharge ports. Fuel and water are supplied to the dispersersof emulsification unit 1 from storage tanks 9 and 12 by pumps 10 and 13;their operation is controlled by controller 55 based on signals receivedfrom sensor 2 that correspond to the readings of the volume of emulsionmade in emulsifier unit 1. Prepared emulsion is discharged to three-wayvalve 25 and is driven further by pump 210 to disperser 214. At the sametime water component is supplied to disperser 213 from water storagetank 211 by pump 212 and dispersed in the upper gas zone ofemulsification unit 2. Mixed gases CH₄ and CO₂ come from storage vessels215 and 216 connected in parallel via solenoid valves 217 and 218 todownstream pressure regulator 219 that sets the gas mixture pressure inintermediate vessel 220. Mixing gases in vessel 220 is achieved throughmetered supply of gases at alternated activation of valves 217 and 218upon commands coming from controller 55. After gases are mixed in vessel220 the gas mixture is fed to 2nd stage downstream pressure regulator223, then—to check valve 224 and further to the gas inlet ofemulsification unit 2. Prepared emulsion is discharged fromemulsification unit 2 via discharge port 207 to throttle 227 and thenvia solenoid valve 228 to WFE storage 2 equipped with pressure sensor233, which sends a signal corresponding to readings of gas mixturepressure in storage 2 to controller 55. Controller 55 sends a command toactivate compressor 235; the compressor returns the gas mixture fromstorage 2 to intermediate vessel 220.

Prepared emulsion quality is monitored by repeated discharge ofemulsification unit bottoms through two-port valve 238 and throttle 239with product supply to indicator 240 and further to the water phasestorage tank.

Long-term storage emulsion accumulated in storage 2 is used as a newfuel for filling consumers' power units.

1. A method of on-board production of water-fuel emulsion free ofemulsifier and stabilizing additives, wherein the method includes:providing an absorber; feeding a liquid fuel and other additionalincombustible evaporative liquids to absorber providing high levelspraying of both liquid flows; feeding a gas or a mixture of gases inabsorber providing a high level of contact of liquid and gases; andproviding an electronic controller for controlling flows of liquids andgases.
 2. A method of production of highly sustainable water-fuelemulsion, wherein the method comprises at least one stage process, andpreferably two stage process of simultaneous or consecutive dissolvingof gas/gasses in dispersed liquid components under high pressure: atfirst stage liquid components are sprayed in absorber #1 under gaspressure of P1; at second stage water-fuel emulsion from absorber #1 isfed to absorber #2 where emulsion and additional portion of watersprayed under gas pressure P2; liquid components are dispersed,preferably, in top areas of absorbers and collected emulsion evacuate,at least, through one port at the bottom of absorber #2 to a storagetank for long time storage; and gas/gases released from emulsion in thestorage tank are compressed and returned to the absorber #2 forsecondary dissolution.
 3. The method according to the claim 2, whereinthe ratio of water-fuel emulsion components is no less than 75% byweight of hydrocarbon fuel, up to 18.5% by weight of deionized/desaltedwater, and up to 2.5% by weight of antifreeze agent.
 4. The methodaccording to the claim 1, wherein the method comprises at least onestage of emulsion preparation with water phase content of at least 3.5%by weight through dissolution of gas mixture or at least one gas at thepartial pressure of each gaseous component being at least 1.35 bar,where the produced emulsion is delivered to the engine fuel supply pumpwhile the return flow of unused emulsion coming from the engine iscooled down and returned to the absorber; the emulsion level ismaintained by synchronous and proportional supply of each dispersedliquid component under discrete control of at least one feed pumpoperation by a controller that sends commands based on the level sensorsignal.
 5. The method for making highly sustainable water-fuel emulsionaccording to the claim 2, wherein the method includes the return of acertain part of emulsion taken from the bottom area of absorber #1,e.g.—water that is escaped emulsion, to the first stage water tankthrough the emulsion quality indicator, while the principal part of theemulsion is directed to the storage tank; this is accompanied by feedingthe gases emitted in the storage tank to the absorber #1 where they aremixed with the make-up gas for repeated dissolution.
 6. An absorber formaking highly sustainable emulsion, operating at an excessive pressureof gas or a gas mixture, and having ports for intake of liquidcomponents and a gaseous components, as well as spraying devices in thetop part of the absorber; all components supply ports are preferablyequipped with valves to prevent backflows; the absorber also has atleast 2 ports in the bottom part with the top one (near-bottom) servingas an emulsion discharge opening for feeding emulsion to the qualitycontrol fixture and is hydraulically connected through an indicator withthe water storage tank.
 7. A system for production of highly sustainablewater-fuel emulsion without the use of emulsifiers and other chemicalswherein the system has an absorber hydraulically connected to a watersource and a standard liquid hydrocarbon fuel source; it is alsoconnected to a high-pressure gas; the absorber has inlet ports forintroduction of the aforementioned components as well as it has portsfor discharge of the prepared emulsion and it is equipped with anexternal level sensor that sends commands to the feed pumps.